• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer navigation

The Geek Diary

  • OS
    • Linux
    • CentOS/RHEL
    • VCS
  • Interview Questions
  • Database
    • MariaDB
  • DevOps
    • Docker
    • Shell Scripting
  • Big Data
    • Hadoop
    • Cloudera
    • Hortonworks HDP

sudo: command not found

by admin

With the su command, any user who knows the root password can “get root” and do anything the root user can do. An account using “su – root” essentially is the server administrator. This is often much more power than should be delegated to users. A better practice is to delegate specific functions to users rather than granting system-wide root privileges.

The sudo command enables the server administrator to delegate specific commands to specific users without granting them full privileges on the server. Delegation is done in the /etc/sudoers file by using the visudo editor. Users and groups may be given specific commands to run in order to fulfill their responsibilities without having full administrator privileges.

Syntax

The syntax of the sudo command is:

$ sudo [options] {command}

If you encounter the below error while running the sudo command:

sudo: command not found

you may try installing the sudo package as shown below as per your choice of distribution.

Distribution Command
Debian apt-get install sudo
Ubuntu apt-get install sudo
Alpine apk add sudo
Arch Linux pacman -S sudo
Kali Linux apt-get install sudo
CentOS yum install sudo
Fedora dnf install sudo
Raspbian apt-get install sudo

sudo Command Examples

1. Run a command as the superuser:

$ sudo less /var/log/syslog

2. Edit a file as the superuser with your default editor:

$ sudo --edit /etc/fstab

3. Run a command as another user and/or group:

$ sudo --user=user --group=group id -a

4. Repeat the last command prefixed with `sudo` (only in `bash`, `zsh`, etc.):

$ sudo !!

5. Launch the default shell with superuser privileges and run login-specific files (`.profile`, `.bash_profile`, etc.):

$ sudo --login

6. Launch the default shell with superuser privileges without changing the environment:

$ sudo --shell

7. Launch the default shell as the specified user, loading the user’s environment and reading login-specific files (`.profile`, `.bash_profile`, etc.):

$ sudo --login --user=user

8. List the allowed (and forbidden) commands for the invoking user:

$ sudo --list

Conclusion

how exactly does the can-do-anything sudo program work? It’s simpler than you think! Refer to the following code:

$ which sudo
/usr/bin/sudo
$ ls -l $(which sudo)
-rwsr-xr-x 1 root root 145040 Jun 13  2022 /usr/bin/sudo

We note that the binary executable sudo is really a setuid-root program! So think about it: whenever you run a program with sudo, the sudo process runs with a root privilege straight away—no password, no fuss. But, of course, for security, the user must enter the password; once they enter it correctly, sudo continues execution and executes the command you want it to—as root. If the user fails to enter the password correctly (within three attempts typically), sudo aborts execution.

Filed Under: Linux

Some more articles you might also be interested in …

  1. isoinfo: command not found
  2. Linux OS service ‘nfs’
  3. How to use “yum downloadonly” to download a package without installing it
  4. kak Command Examples
  5. ncat: command not found
  6. ac Command Examples in Linux
  7. dm-tool: command not found
  8. bc: command not found
  9. pmount: command not found
  10. createrepo Command Examples in Linux

You May Also Like

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Vanilla OS 2 Released: A New Era for Linux Enthusiasts
  • mk Command Examples
  • mixxx Command Examples
  • mix Command Examples

© 2025 · The Geek Diary

  • Archives
  • Contact Us
  • Copyright